Soviet frontman John Spies knows that his band's music might sound a little familiar.
But there's reason for that, the 21-year-old explains: The band got its started when he and his drummer, the 20-year-old Andrew Weir, plugged in their equipment and began "copying Japandroids songs and fucking them up."
That was five months ago. In the time since, the longtime friends ripped through a line of bass players before settling on 21-year-old Ricky Brown and began writing their own material, which they recently started recording. The result is the group's debut EP, called Forever Today, which was released earlier this week as a pay-what-you-want download. And, believe us, it's worth every penny you're willing to offer up.
With nods to Japandroids, the Black Lips and others of that ilk, and a boasting a flair not unlike longtime DC9 favorites Teenage Cool Kids out of Denton, the young group's early output is an impressive one. Forever Today is an impressive collection of pop-indebted, jangly garage rock, filled with all the angst (and apathy) that you'd expect from college dropout Spies and his young collaborators.
For good reason, Spies explains: "We're 21 and have nothing else to do except this."
Lucky us. After the jump, stream a taste of the disc, the EP's third cut and very autobiographical "Kids In My Backyard." Then catch the band on Saturday night, when it plays Club Dada with Man Factory.